The vast majority of our wild flower rich grasslands and hay meadows have been lost since 1945. The use of artificial fertilisers and herbicides has had the unfortunate effect of reducing wildlife interest in wild flower meadows. Productive grass varieties that use fertilisers more readily than wild flowers, will take over and the diversity of plants that support the food pyramid decreases. Wild flower meadows are traditionally managed with a mid-summer hay cut (allowing wild flowers to set seed) and aftermath grazing which treads seed into the soil and controls competitive plant growth. While these traditional management techniques are dwindling, it is still possible to restore and re-create flower-rich grasslands using modern methods.

The ‘green hay’ grassland re-creation technique involves taking a mid summer cut from a wild flower meadow - a local donor site should provide suitable species - transferring the cut grass complete with wild flower seed to a prepared receptor site and spreading it thinly and evenly. A hectare of green hay taken from a donor site can be spread across three hectares of the receptor site. The seed is then rolled or trodden in to the ground by livestock to ensure contact is made with the soil and crucially, aftercare must be carried out. Every situation differs according to a wide variety of factors, such as current sward composition, previous management and the availability of livestock.

Receptor sites should be inspected for suitability. If soil nutrients are too high or aggressive grasses are dominant then wild flowers will struggle. Preferably, the pH of the receptor site soil should match that of the donor site. It also needs to have a high percentage of bare ground for the seeds to make contact with soil. This can be achieved either with livestock grazing and light poaching, or mechanically by slitting and tine harrowing.

A tractor and forage harvester is used to harvest species-rich green hay which is collected in a rear-discharge muck spreader. It is essential that this ‘green hay’ is spread as soon as possible to prevent the crop heating up which causes the wild flower seed to become infertile. An even, thin spread of green hay is required on the recipient site to prevent overheating of seeds and unwanted nutrient deposition from decaying grass. Clumps of hay flung from the muck spreader can be scattered by hand using pitch forks. A management plan for the site might include livestock grazing, weed control (pulling or spot spraying), and a hay cutting regime for future years.
For small sites less than one hectare, the hay can be cut using a mower, collected into a trailer and transported to the receptor site. It can be spread using pitch forks at the receptor site.

• Every meadow is different, but if you haven’t used fertiliser recently and you are willing to undertake aftercare, it is worth giving wildflower-rich grassland restoration a go – flower-rich meadows support a wealth of insects, birds and mammals
• Soil nutrients of the receptor site must be low and aggressive species must not be dominant.
• Plenty of bare ground is required on the receptor site.
• The nearer the donor site, the better, as it will contain local wild flower species and the transportation of green hay is minimised.

If you are interested in creating wild flower meadows on any of your land, Somerset Wildlife Trust’s Mendip Hills Living Landscape Project can provide advice, including a database of existing wild flower meadows as local donor sites, recommend contractors and help with the logistics of cutting and spreading green hay. The Project has a Habitat Re-creation Grant run jointly with Somerset County Council which can cover up to 80% of the costs involved in the green hay process

The name comes from the appearance of the seed pods or ‘legumes’ on their stalk. Other popular names include “bacon and eggs”, from the flower’s bright colours, or, more mysteriously, “bellies and bums”! The presence of bird’s-foot trefoil in any sward is a good sign. It is an ‘indicator’ of species-rich grassland and can survive close grazing, trampling and cutting.

With purple or bluish thistle-like flower heads, the knapweed family are known to produce plenty of nectar thereby attracting much insect life. Thriving in low nutrient soils, knapweed is a classic wildflower meadow species.

As an annual plant, yellow rattle flourishes in hay meadows where it gets a chance to set its abundant seeds every year; (the seeds rattling inside their capsule give this plant its name, and farmers on Mendip claim to hear yellow rattle rich hay meadows from some distance away on a breezy summer’s day!) Yellow rattle gains some of its nutrients from the roots of neighbouring plants, particularly rye grass and white clover, therefore promoting sward diversity by creating space for other plants to thrive.